The UN Security Council convened an emergency session on Friday over Iran-Israel conflict, amid strikes and counterstrikes.
By Tiamiyu Arobani
The UN Security Council convened an emergency session on Friday over Iran-Israel conflict, amid strikes and counterstrikes.
The Council adjusted its original schedule to address the rapidly evolving crisis and also heard from the head of the UN-backed international nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Overnight from Thursday into Friday, Israeli military strikes targeted nuclear facilities across Iran, including the Natanz enrichment site.
Media reports indicated that Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as several prominent nuclear scientists, were among those killed.
The strikes also caused significant damage, including reportedly dozens of civilian casualties, while airspace in the region has been largely closed and security forces are on high alert.
Additional Israeli strikes were reported late Friday local time as well as ballistic missile launches by Iran which have reportedly struck parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv.
Briefing the Council, Rafael Grossi, Director General of IAEA, the UN-backed international nuclear watchdog, warned of the grave risks to regional stability and nuclear safety.
Grossi said his agency was in constant contact with the Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority to assess the status of affected facilities and determine broader impacts on nuclear safety and security.
“Iran has confirmed that at present, only the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant site has been attacked in today’s strikes,” he said.
“This facility contains the Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant.
“At Natanz, the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60 per cent U-235, has been destroyed.”
The IAEA chief stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment.
“Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security.”
Grossi said IAEA had consistently underlined that “armed attacks on nuclear facilities could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked”.